Going Vegan (Willpower Not Required)

Going vegan is a crucial step to take for everyone, whether you're a zoosexual or not. There's plenty of info on this site and on the Internet explaining why going vegan is the right choice, so I won't be getting into that.
 
This article is aimed at those who know veganism is the right thing to do, but haven't taken the step yet, or just aren't fully vegan. My goal here is to show you that you can go vegan today, and that you need no (or very little) willpower to achieve it. This is because veganism doesn't require commitment or discipline, it requires action and understanding.
 
Note: This article assumes that you have the means to go vegan: you don't live in a tribe or a food desert and you can decide what goes into your mouth. If this isn't the case, veganism might be a little harder for you.
 
Having said this, these are the steps I recommend you take in order to finally stop your financial support of animal abuse and exploitation:
 
 
1. Show yourself you can do it.
 
One of the main reasons why people don't go vegan is that they find the idea of it too difficult. This makes sense: We usually engage in a myriad of consumer habits that date back to our childhood. The thought of changing these habits can seem intimidating, cumbersome and even threatening. But it couldn't be further from the truth: in most cases, going vegan is no gargantuan task. In fact, you can start your vegan life right now by learning a couple of recipes and choosing vegan options when eating out.
I invite you to give yourself a month to experience the vegan lifestyle by yourself. It's important to set a timed goal that is both achievable as well as lengthy enough to notice the changes. I'll explain more in point #2. During this time, feel free to experience all that comes with it: See how it feels on your body. Check if the prices are as high as some may want you to believe (they're not, you can usually eat vegan quite cheaply). And, most importantly, demystify veganism. The best part is, the more you get used to it, the easier it becomes.
 
Note: The reason I'm insistent on you trying out veganism for yourself is that the understanding you get from reading about veganism is completely different than the understanding you get from first hand experience with a vegan diet: The latter will hopefully lead to a shift in perspective that is much harder to achieve whilst still consuming animal products.
 
 
2. Unveil the lie of carnism.
 
Going plant based, even for one month, comes along with a bunch of acceptance: Accepting that we have been lied to. Acknowledging that we have been made an accomplice of something horrible for years.
 
And this is the lie of carnism: We've been told that we need all kinds of animal products to survive, or to thrive, or to be happy. And even if we were already aware of this lie, we had watched some documentaries and read Animal Liberation, even if we fully understood that animals are suffering for our food in unspeakable ways, we might still be in for an emotional ride.
 
It's difficult to put into words, but becoming plant based often comes with a significant shift in perspective. I think this is because, before going vegan, even if we're aware of all the horrible things we do to farm and sea animals, we still need some level of denial (or at least willful blindness) to be able to consume them without crying our eyes out and hating ourselves to death. The need to look the other way is no longer required when we become vegan, which means that we suddenly become hyper aware of the suffering behind every piece of animal flesh, every egg, etc. In short, we suddenly realize that humans are causing an immense amount of animal suffering every single second and nobody seems to care.
 
This emotional awakening can get very intense and even shocking. It was definitely the hardest part of becoming vegan for me. However, everyone's experience will differ, I've discussed this with other vegan friends and not everyone felt this. I hope your emotional path to veganism goes smoothly. But in my personal experience, veganism leads to new understandings. And it's in this newly gained understanding that we must turn our compassion and disbelief into anger towards the industries that make all of this happen.
 
 
3. Connect the dots, feel the wrath.
 
Having said all this, the last step is to put it all together: Action and Understanding.
When we're no longer consuming animal products, we take ourselves out of the equation, and it becomes easier to think whether buying these products would align with our morals. Now that we can see the suffering embedded in these products, we might become open to feeling certain emotional responses that we haven't allowed ourselves to feel up until this point. Some common ones are sadness, disgust or anger. And here comes the crucial part: If we allow ourselves to accept and listen to these emotions, we can use them in our favor to help us make the right choice when ordering or purchasing stuff out there.
 
This is how it often works for me: As a relatively new vegan, whenever I come across "milk" among the ingredients in my favorite bag of chips at the supermarket, I immediately make a mental connection to the cows who suffered greatly so that these chips could be made. This triggers a "Fuck you!" response in my brain and I gladly reach over for the next chips brand. And here's an early example of one of these "awakening" moments I had, shortly after becoming vegan: I clearly remember passing by the butcher's stand (the same one I've nonchalantly walked by countless times before) with the most genuine "WTF" threatening to come out of my mouth.
 
But fear not, for these emotions won't haunt you for the rest of eternity. There eventually comes a point at which we naturally avoid the non vegan option out of habit, without the need to remind ourselves how fucked up the world we live in is.
 
In short, when you are aware of the suffering behind every animal product AND choose to go vegan, the non-vegan option stops being an option: it becomes an assault to your morals and an insult to the suffering of those you care about. These thoughts and feelings are what will ultimately make you choose vegan every time, without thinking twice about it and without spending a single drop of willpower.
So don't waste any time, go out there and do what you think it's right!
 
 
Article written by zipwok (September 2022) 
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